Miriam Hopkins

Actress

Female

BornOct 18, 1902

HometownSavannah, Georgia

DiedOct 9, 1972

Death PlaceNew York City

Height5' 2" (157 cm)

Weight100 lbs (45.4 kg)...

NationalityAmerican

Ellen Miriam Hopkins was an American actress known for her versatility in a wide variety of roles. Hopkins was born in Savannah, Georgia, and raised in Bainbridge, near the Alabama border. She attended Goddard Seminary in Barre, Vermont and Syracuse University (in New York), but apparently did not graduate.… Read More

News + Updates

'Ralph Richardson offers strong support as the heiress' father, while Miriam Hopkins is always a welcome presence. John Huston's The Misfits (1961) is notable as the last film of both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. Raintree County (1957) is notable'

'One of those novellas, The Old Maid, published in 1924, was made into a film with Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins. Clearly Hollywood felt that her last works were "great" enough, too. But that link with the mass market, in this case Hollywood,'

'[Myrna Loy, Margaret Sullavan, Miriam Hopkins, and Constance Bennett were mentioned for It Happened One Night; Simone Simon and Isa Miranda were initially cast in Under Two Flags and Zaza, respectively.]'

Timeline

CHILDHOOD

1902Birth
Born on October 18, 1902.

TWENTIES

193027 Years Old
In 1930, she signed with Paramount Pictures, and made her official film debut in Fast and Loose.

193128 Years Old
Her first great success was in the 1931 horror drama film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in which she portrayed the character Ivy Pearson; a prostitute who becomes entangled with the lead protagonists Jekyll and Hyde.
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Hopkins received rave reviews, however due to the controversy that surrounded the finished film and in particular, her character, many of Hopkins's scenes were cut before the official release. This reduced Hopkins to approximately five minutes of screen time. Read Less

193229 Years Old
Nevertheless her career ascended swiftly thereafter and in 1932 she scored her breakthrough in Ernst Lubitsch's Trouble in Paradise, where she proved her charm and wit as a beautiful and jealous pickpocket.
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During the pre-code Hollywood era in the early 1930s, she appeared in such other films as The Smiling Lieutenant, The Story of Temple Drake and Design for Living, all of which were box office successes and critically acclaimed. Her pre-code films were also considered quite risqué for their time, with The Story of Temple Drake depicting a rape scene and Design for Living featuring a menage-a-trois plot with Fredric March and Gary Cooper. Hopkins also had great success during the remainder of the decade with the romantic screwball comedy The Richest Girl in the World (1934), the historical drama Becky Sharp (1935), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, Barbary Coast (1935), These Three (1936) (the first of four films with director William Wyler) and The Old Maid (1939). Hopkins was one of the first actresses approached to play the role of Ellie Andrews in It Happened One Night (1934), however she famously rejected the part. The role went to Claudette Colbert and resulted in an Academy Award win. Read Less

FORTIES

Hopkins had well-publicized fights with her arch-enemy Bette Davis (Davis was having an affair with Hopkins' husband at the time, Anatole Litvak), when they co-starred in their two films The Old Maid (1939) and Old Acquaintance (1943). Davis admitted to enjoying very much a scene in Old Acquaintance in which she shakes Hopkins forcefully during a scene where Hopkins' character makes unfounded allegations against hers. There were even press photos taken with both divas in boxing rings with gloves up and director Vincent Sherman between the two. <br /><br />After Old Acquaintance, she did not work again in films until The Heiress (1949), where she played the lead character's aunt. Read Less

In Mitchell Leisen's 1951's screwball comedy The Mating Season, she gave a comic performance as Gene Tierney's character's mother.
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She also acted in The Children's Hour, which is the theatrical basis of her film These Three (1936). In the remake, she played the aunt to Shirley MacLaine, while MacLaine took Hopkins' original role. Hopkins auditioned for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, having one advantage none of the other candidates had: she was a native Georgian. However, the part went to Vivien Leigh. Read Less

LATE ADULTHOOD

196966 Years Old
She was a television pioneer, performing in teleplays in three decades, spanning the late 1940s through the late 1960s, in such programs as The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1949), Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (1951), Lux Video Theatre (1951–1955),The Outer Limits (1964) and even an episode of The Flying Nun in 1969.
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She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures at 1701 Vine Street, and one for television at 1708 Vine Street.<br /><br /> Hopkins was married and divorced four times: first to actor Brandon Peters, second to aviator Austin Parker, third to the director Anatole Litvak, and fourth to war correspondent Raymond B. Brock. In 1932, Hopkins adopted a son, Michael Hopkins.<br /><br /> Hopkins died in New York, New York from a heart attack nine days before her 70th birthday.<br /><br /> Short Subjects: Read Less